POTW: National Hug a News Anchor Day (2013)

SYRACUSE — Did you hug a news anchor yesterday? If not, you may have to wait until “National Hug a News Anchor Day” comes around again next year. A couple of local stations observed the “holiday” and shared video online.

CNY Central posted this “behind the scenes” video from the newsroom. Most of the hugs are given to Matt Mulcahy and Megan Coleman of NBC affiliate WSTM-TV. Although CBS5 (WTVH) anchor Michael Benny only gets one hug, you’ll see how quality makes up for quantity.

A few miles away at ABC affiliate NewsChannel 9 (WSYR-TV), morning meteorologist Chris Brandolino mentioned the special day during one of his forecasts. But when he asked the anchors for a hug, the camera cuts to reveal they had both stepped away from the set. Hearing what happened, James Gaddis (filling-in for Dan Cummings) and Tanja Babich return to the studio and satisfy Brandolino’s hug craving.

We checked other TV station websites within in the CNYTVNews.com coverage area, but — at least as of our deadline — we didn’t see any other local “Hug a News Anchor” videos posted.

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